Exam (elaborations)
A LEVEL REVISION "The Tempest"
- Module
- Drama and poetry pre-1900
- Institution
- OCR
A LEVEL REVISION NOTES "The Tempest"
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The Tempest – William ShakespeareCharacters
Prospero – the rightful Duke of Milan
Miranda – daughter to Prospero
Ariel – a spirit in service to Prospero
Caliban – a servant of Prospero and a savage monster
Alonso – King of Naples
Sebastian – Alonso's brother
Antonio – Prospero's brother, the usurping Duke of Milan
Ferdinand – Alonso's son
Gonzalo – an honest old councillor
Adrian – a lord serving under Alonso
Francisco – a lord serving under Alonso
Trinculo – the King's jester
Stephano – the King's drunken butler
Juno – the Roman goddess of marriage
Ceres – Roman goddess of agriculture
Iris – Greek goddess of the rainbow and is a messenger of the gods
Master – master of the ship
Mariners
Boatswain – servant of the master
Set on a near-deserted island, The Tempest tells the story of the magician
Prospero’s attempts to regain his dukedom from his deceitful brother Antonio,
who banished Prospero and his infant daughter Miranda to an island.
Decades later, when Duke Antonio, King Alonso, Prince Ferdinand, and their
courtiers happen to sail near the island, Prospero conjures a storm and wrecks
their ship. He is sure to separate the sailors into small groups, so each thinks they
are the only survivors. While King Alonso weeps for his son (Ferdinand),
Prospero orders Ariel, his fairy servant, to secretly lure Ferdinand to Miranda,
and the two fall in love.
Meanwhile, two Italian sailors have found the remains of the ship’s rum and
happen upon Caliban, the hated and hateful enslaved person of Prospero. Drunk,
,the three of them plot to overcome Prospero and become kings of the island.
However, Ariel eavesdrops and warns the all-powerful Prospero, who easily
overcomes them. Meanwhile, Prospero has Ariel taunt Alonso and Antonio’s
retinue with elaborate displays of fairy magic, only to remind them of their
betrayal years ago.
Finally, Prospero has Ariel lead the confused sailors to his palace. Alonso
tearfully reunites with his son, and gives his blessing to his marriage with
Miranda. With his brother so firmly under his power and his daughter marrying
into the royal line, Prospero takes back his dukedom. Power restored, Prospero
gives up his magical powers, sets Ariel and Caliban free, and sails back to Italy.
Major Characters
Prospero. Ruler of the island and Miranda’s father. The former Duke of Milan,
Prospero was betrayed by his brother Antonio and banished with his baby
daughter Miranda. Now he rules the island with magical powers.
Ariel. Fairy-servant of Prospero. He was imprisoned by the witch Sycorax when
she ruled the island, but Prospero saved him. Now he obeys his enslaver’s every
command, with the expectation of his eventual freedom.
Caliban. The enslaved person of Prospero and the son of Sycorax, a witch who
once ruled the island. A monster figure but also a rightful native of the island,
Caliban is often treated cruelly and represents a complicated figure.
Miranda. Daughter of Prospero and lover of Ferdinand.
Ferdinand. Son of King Alonso of Naples and lover of Miranda. He is a loyal son
and a faithful lover, working hard for Prospero to win Miranda’s hand in
marriage, and represents traditional patriarchal values.
Gonzalo. The loyal Neapolitan councillor. He is always supportive of his king,
and even saved Prospero's life when he was banished by providing him with
necessary supplies. Prospero calls him “my true preserver”.
Antonio. Prospero’s younger brother. He usurped his brother to become Duke
of Milan himself, sending his brother and his child off to die in a boat. He also
encourages Sebastian to murder his brother Alonso to become King of Naples.
The fact that Antonio is willing to repeat history shows that he has no remorse.
Major Themes
,Authority, legitimacy, and betrayal. With the action of the play being situated around Prospero’s
desire for revenge for his unfair deposition as duke, Shakespeare encourages us to investigate the question
of authority.
Illusion. Prospero’s magical ability to delude the other characters seems to parallel Shakespeare’s own
ability to delude, at least briefly, his audience into believing the scene before their eyes is reality.
Otherness. With his near total control of the other characters in the play, Prospero is a powerful figure.
However, what is the effect of his domination, and how do the characters react from whom he takes
power?
Nature. Although this is one of Shakespeare’s most common themes, The Tempest’s setting on a near-
deserted island forces its characters to interact with the natural world, as well as their own natures, in
ways unusual to the playwright’s work.
Confinement Action is confined to the island and much of the time we are simply ‘before Prospero’s
cell’; Prospero ultimately escapes the island; Ariel was once imprisoned in a cloven tree by Sycorax and
both Ariel and Caliban are held in the power of Prospero’s magic.
Stage Direction “They all enter the circle which Prospero had made, and there stand charmed;”
For a while too, Alonsa, Gonzalo, Sebastian, Antonio, Adrian and Fransisco are all held paralysed within
the enchanted circle inscribed on the ground by Prospero (Act 5 Scene I) ;
the mariners are released after being ‘clapped under hatches’; Alonso is eventually freed from mental
shackles of guilt.
Ariel is liberated (“thou/ Shalt have the air of freedom”)and Caliban can choose his future; in the
Epilogue Prospero pleads for the applause which will enable him to escape the confinement of the stage.
Ruling and Being Ruled
The theme of ‘opposing the ruler’ sounds throughout the play
- Antonio – the usurpation of the Dukedom
- Sebastian (agreeing to conspire against his brother the Kong)
- - through Caliban, Stephano and Trinculo (in their final plot against Prospero)
-
- Briefly through Ferdinand (in his initial attempt to fight his captor). Also in Act 3, Scene I,
Ferdinand is a ‘slave’ to Prospero but the ‘slavery’ is embraced in a way to show his sincere love
for Miranda…Prospero declares “thou/Hast strangely stood the test” (Whereas Ferdinand
willingly assumes his new position, Caliban is angered by it: because for Ferdinand it is only
temporary)
“Might I but trough my prison once a day/Behold this maid………………Space enough I have in such a
prison.”
- Through Ariel (in his opposition to Sycorax, and in his quest for freedom from Prospero)
, - And even, with the masque, through Venus and Cupid (in their plan to subvert the plans of Juno,
Queen of the Olympians)
- In a minor key the theme is present even in Prospero, to the extent that he is tempted to stray
from the divine precept to be merciful.
A Level Exam Questions
1. “Although the island is apparently far removed from the world of Milan, there is no
escaping the influence of the past.” Discuss this view of The Tempest.
2. How far would you agree that “in The Tempest, magic is presented as a distraction from
the main concerns of the play”?
3. ‘The storm in The Tempest both destroys and renews.’ Using your knowledge of the
play as a whole, show how far you agree with this view of The Tempest.
The storm in Act I, scene I (which candidates have just been invited to write about in the
context part of this question) is the only literal tempest in the play, though creative
shipwreck in elsewhere Shakespeare is not unusual (Twelfth Night, The Winter’s Tale,
Pericles). The fact that the storm has been conjured by a human being (Prospero)
suggests the god-like control this character exerts over the play’s action. Destructive
aspects of the storm tend to be registered in the play’s first half: Alonso and Ferdinand,
father and son, are portrayed (in different scenes) in a kind of desperate mutual lament;
Stephano and Trinculo seem to be set free to indulge baser appetites without
restriction. The shipwreck immediately facilitates two conspiracies: an upper plot aiming
at the crown; a satyr play aiming at murder. As the play winds on, softer products of the
storm appear: Miranda welcoming and wondering at the world of men and eliciting her
prince from the sea, Alonso re-born in repentance. Sebastian, Antonio and the ‘odd lads’
of Caliban’s conspiracy are less obviously regenerated, however, so some candidates will
think that Prospero’s renewing storm is only partly effective, only working on those
susceptible to it. For his own part Prospero decides at the end of the play never to
raise a vindictive storm again, to be humbly human rather than to bend the elements
to his will. Candidates might choose to comment on the fact that – at the end of the
play – there is a sense of a metaphorical passing of the storm of events and brighter
conditions seem to be appearing on the horizon. Different interpretations and
performances approaches (and there are many available) could be considered by
candidates as they explore the ways in which others have considered the idea of storms
and tempests as they relate to this play.
This indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions that may feature in
candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, nor is it exclusive; examiners must be careful
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